Network protocols that support mobility aim at ensuring appropriate forwarding of traffic as a mobile device changes its network attachment point and/or technology used to gain access to a network. To ensure that an acceptable quality of experience is observed by the mobile device, and considering different available applications, each traffic component requires appropriate treatment per a corresponding class of service. For a typical mobile device, application traffic is carried over multiple networks. Appropriate treatment is required on each network node along a path on which traffic will be forwarded. Mobile Internet protocol (IP) allows mobile devices to continue receiving traffic wherever the mobile devices are attached to the Internet. Mobile IP enables the mobile devices (also known as IP hosts, mobile hosts, or mobile nodes) to move between different sub-networks without tearing down established transport layer sessions.
Some third generation (3G) wireless access networks, such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, use Mobile IP version 4 (v4) or Client Mobile IP version 4 (CMIPv4) as a mobility protocol. CMIPv4 is a host-based mobility protocol where a mobile device executes a mobility client, implements a CMIPv4 protocol stack, and manages mobility. A network node in a CDMA network supports the mobility of the mobile devices via two agents, a foreign agent (FA) (e.g., a packet data serving node (PDSN)) and a home agent (HA). When a mobile device connects to a CDMA network, the FA sends an agent advertisement message so that the mobile device knows it is connecting to a network that supports CMIPv4-based mobility. Based on the agent advertisement message, the mobile device executes a CMIPv4 client and begins performing a Mobile IP registration.
Next generation CDMA networks and fourth generation (4G) wireless standards provided by The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specify use of a network-based mobility protocol called proxy Mobile IP version 6 (PMIPv6). In a PMIPv6 based network, a mobile device uses a Simple IP address to communicate and mobility is handled by the network. The mobile device may be transparent or unaware of such mobility.
The CMIPv4 and PMIPv6 mobility protocols specify how to use host-based mobility and network-based mobility, respectively. However, current mobility standards do not address networks that implement both the CMIPv4 and PMIPv6 mobility protocols. Furthermore, current mobility standards do enable dynamic selection of either the CMIPv4 mobility protocol or the PMIPv6 mobility protocol, depending on the mobility capability of the mobile device.